Unknown Surprises
by vexus01
Summary: Danny gets a unknown suprise dl
1. Look Away

Leah Watson pushed with all her strength on that last contraction. Sweat poured off her forehead, and her hands that gripped the handrail were slick to the touch.

Letting out a cry, she pushed and the life that she had been carrying for the last 9 months came out crying.

The doctor told her that it was a girl, but she couldn't look. She couldn't look at her child.

The nurse asked her if she wanted to hold her daughter, but she shook her head no.

The baby was placed in the hospital bassinet and she moved her arms and legs wildly. Leah saw this and it broke her heart.

After the baby's footprints were placed on the birth certificate, Leah's name was put on it.

And Danny Messer's name put on as the father.


	2. Empty Inside

2 weeks later...

Leah Watson woke to the cries of her newborn daughter. She slowly climbed out of bed and went over to the bassinette in the corner of the room.

Gently lifting her daughter out of the crib, she patted her tiny bottom and went over to the glider and sat down and slowly rocked her daughter back to sleep.

She tried so hard to love her daughter, she really did. It was hard to look at her. Nothing was wrong with her, but she sometimes didn't feeling the joy and excitement that new mothers felt with their newborns. The doctors called it Post-Partum Depression and she believed them.

She felt nothing for this child.

Leah never wanted a child. She was a career-driven woman, a woman on the go and the thought of a child slowing her down was upsetting. She met Danny Messer at a club and had fun. However after a few drinks, she ended up in bed with him.

It was the biggest mistake she ever made and she hoped her daughter would forgive her for that.

She never told Danny about the baby, didn't want to ruin his personal live like hers had been ruined.

But sometimes things change.

Placing the baby into the crib, she went into the kitchen to get a couple of things.

She starting writing.

And writing.

Then she grabbed the blade in the kitchen drawer.

And ended it all.


	3. Deja'vu

Danny and Lindsay pulled up to the apartment where the crime scene was located. Lindsay was about to open the door handle when she felt Danny gently tug on her sleeve. She turned to him and was at the mercy of his soft lips.

"That was for last night, Montana."

"If that is what I get when I leave the truck, what do I get when I get back into the truck?"

"Well, you just have to wait and see. Ya know, curiosity killed the cat." Danny said, smirking at her.

"Okay, okay." Lindsay said, turning up her lip into a pout.

When the arrived at the door, they were met by Detective Angell.

"What we do we have, Det. Angell?" Danny said.

"The victims name is Leah Watson, a 30-year-old marketing executive. Call came into 911 at approximately 10:21 pm when the neighbor came over to complain about the baby crying."

"Baby crying?" Lindsay said, puzzled.

"Yes, a 2 week old baby girl. Her birth name is Macy, Macy Ann."

Danny lifted the crime scene tape and let Lindsay pass underneath. This action did not go unnoticed by Jennifer.

"Bit of chivalry, Messer."

"Whatever, Angell," Danny said, smirking. Lindsay was ahead of them and couldn't help but chuckle.

Jennifer led them into the kitchen and they found the victim. The blood pool and the position of the cuts were evidence enough that this was the case of apparent suicide.

Danny couldn't help having a sense of deja' vu with seeing this woman dead on the floor. She looked very familiar; but he couldn't put his finger on why she looked familiar.

Danny walked over to the table and found the suicide note. Being careful not to damage the paper, he placed the note in an evidence bag. "Where's the baby?"

"With the Department of Family and Children's Services representative over there." Jennifer said, motioning with her head in the direction of the rep.

Danny and Lindsay walked over to the representative. The baby was curled up in the arms of the representative.

"Hey there, sweetheart," Lindsay said, smiling. She got the baby from the representative and went over to her changing table in the other room.

Lindsay thought Danny was right behind her but noticed that he was still standing in the same spot as before.

"Danny, Danny." Lindsay said, calling out his name quietly.

Danny couldn't help but be nervous on this case. Maybe it was about him not being around babies much but the fact is this: He had this strange feeling that his life was going to change forever.


	4. The Cell Phone

Danny couldn't shake that feeling of knowing something without actually having enough evidence to prove it. The victim, Leah Watson, looked vaguely familiar and he could not put a finger on it yet. He had to find out why this case is bothering him and whose baby was that.

The best way that he could distance himself from that gut feeling was if he just kept busy. Busyness kept him focused and that is what he needed to do now.

Lindsay was another way for him to stay focused and distracted at the same time. That woman had a way with him that no other woman could. Her smile, the twinkle in her brown eyes and the way that she looked when she was frustrated always did him in. 

Lindsay had returned from the hospital after checking in on the baby Macy. By all standards, the baby was healthy and would be held at the hospital until the Department of Family and Children contacted the father whose name is also on the birth certificate. Normally the state does not do this, but they wanted to make sure that both parties knew their rights as parents.

She had collected blood from Macy and was headed towards DNA. Opening the double doors and handed the sample to Margo, one of the DNA techs.

"Margo, can you put a rush on that sample please?"

Margo looked over at Lindsay. "Sure".

Lindsay thanked her and she headed towards the locker room. Even though she kept clean at the scene, she was longing for a new set of clothes right now.

She took her clothes and changed in one of the shower stalls. She grabbed the dirty clothes and realized that there were 2 cell phones on her. One of them was hers and the other was Danny's. She remembered now that he asked her if she could hold his phone since phones were not allowed in the part of the lab that he was working it. Danny's phone started to vibrate and she looked down to see who was calling.

The caller I.D. said:

The Department of Family and Children.

And she had a feeling.

The feeling was that he was hiding something.

And she wanted to know why.


	5. Can't believe it!

Lindsay sat on the locker room bench, dumbfounded. She was absolutely stunned. How could he hide something like this from me? she thought, they shared everything. How could he do such a thing?

Lindsay had to get away for awhile. She felt the walls of the locker room closing in on her. She went over to her locker, grabbed her coat, and headed out for some fresh air. 

Danny had been looking for Lindsay for 30 minutes. He could not find her. He couldn't call her because he lent her his phone, so he had to rely of searching the hard way. He checked the break room, DNA lab, and even the broom closet. It was if she disappeared off the earth. 

Sheldon was coming around the corner when he almost ran into Danny. "Hey," Sheldon said, almost avoiding a collision with Danny.

"Hawkes, have you seen Lindsay?"

Sheldon shook his head. "No, I haven't see Lindsay since this morning. I'm sorry man."

He was about to go check in the AV lab when he heard his name on the intercom.

He was told to pick up line 2.

"Hello?", he answered.

"We need to talk," Lindsay said, curtly. "Meet me at Central Park in 30 minutes."

He was about to respond when the line went dead.

Damn, he thought, this can't be good.


	6. Admission and Confession

It only took 30 minutes to get to Central Park but it felt like 2 hours. He thought about what Lindsay was going to say to him Was she going to leave him? Was she going to stand by him? He didn't want her to leave because a life without Lindsay means life is not worth living for at all.

It had taken a long time for her to fully trust him. She heard rumors around the lab of course. But she finally gave into her heart and they were as one.

He saw her at their favorite bench before she saw him. She put a stray hair behind her ear and he could here her sniffling. She looked in the distance and he could see that she had been crying.

Her face was red and her puffy eyes displayed her feelings at that time. All he knew was that it was his fault that she was like this and he had to make it better. He sat down on the bench and it took her awhile but she finally looked up.

"I have this strong feeling, Danny that you knew Leah Watson and you're not telling me the full story."

He hung his head down and sighed. He could not bear to look her straight in the eye. Danny reached out and held her tiny hand. Her hands were tense but after feeling the warmth of his hand, she lightened the grip.

"Before we started dating, I was at a bar. I had a couple of drinks in me and I began talking to a woman. We started laughing like old friends and she told me that her name was Leah. As the night went on, we go to know each other very well. We..."

Danny stopped to look over at Lindsay w ho turned away with a long tear falling down her face. "Linds...he said but she stopped him.

"Just finish please?"

"Okay" Danny said. "The next thing I know we end up at my place. The next morning, she was gone. She never left a note, never left a phone number, nothing. I thought that I had heard the last of her. Then I saw her and the baby at the crime scene and she favors me, Linds". 

I think that baby is mine."


	7. I'm There For You

All Lindsay could do is just watch Danny. She believed him that he had no idea that he could be a father. She had known him long enough to know when he was lying to her and judging from the range of emotions apparent on his face he was telling the truth.

"Linds, what am I going to do here? I can't be a father, I just can't."

"Why can't you be a father?" Lindsay said, puzzled.

Danny sighed. "How can I take care of another human being when I have this crazy work schedule? We work sometimes 15 hours a day and that doesn't even count the times when we have to be called in."

Lindsay reached over and took his hands in hers. His pulse slowed when she held his hand and that is all that it took for him to trust her completely in what she was going to say to him.

"Danny, I love you and you don't have to worry about a thing. We'll handle this together. I have your back and you have mine. But first we have to find out if the child is yours. The Department of Family and Children did leave you a message on your phone. They probably want to have a chat with you. We can have your DNA ran with Macy's to see the paternity results."

Danny stood up and helped Lindsay to her feet. He held her hand and headed back towards the lab. They had almost made it to the lab when Danny's cell rang. Mac's name popped up on the display screen.

They both stopped and looked at each other. Both of them thinking but not admitting that there would be rough water ahead.


	8. Hand in Hand

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, CBS does.

Pairings: D/L

Ratings: K

Part 8

Danny and Lindsay walked back to the lab, hand in hand. Both were expecting the worst.She felt the emotions run through Danny's hand. Apprehension showed in the way that he gripped her hand. He held on to her, afraid of losing control the second that he lets go.

He had never been this nervous before. The only time he had been this nervous was when he tried to ask Lindsay out to lunch. They were about a block from the lab when she pulled Danny into a hug. He was taken back at first, but slowly relaxed in her arms.

As he was in her embrace she whispered these words: "I will be there for you. Whatever happens in this case, I will have your back. Friends to friends, partners to partners. We will get through this together."

Never in his life did he believe someone as much as he believed Lindsay. As bad as it sounds, sometimes he trusted her more than his family.

They walked up to Mac's office and Mac saw Danny and Lindsay and he motioned Danny inside his office. Not to raise suspicion, Lindsay went back to her office and began to straighten up her desk. What she told Danny was the truth; she was going to be there for him.

* * *

Danny sat down in the chair in front of Mac's desk. Mac could tell the young man was nervous so he was going to get straight to the point. 

"Danny, I recieved a call from Children Services and from what I can tell, you have been named on the birth certificate of the little girl that was born to the deceased Leah Watson . As a precaution, I want you to get tested to correctly determine the paternity. Are you willing to do this?"

"Mac, I'm done waiting. I need to know."

to be continued...


	9. Photo Album

Danny woke up in a cold sweat. He looked over at Lindsay in the bed, her petite form rising up and down with every breath she took. Waking up with the cold sweat had been occurring for about 2 days.

This all started when he took the paternity test. The technician said that he would get the results soon, but soon was not enough. He had nightmares because he thought he would be a bad father. That is, IF he was the father.

The biggest part of the puzzle was how Lindsay was handling this. She had told him that she would support him but he had this fear that she would run from him. People say that they will stick by you in the moment but things change.

He kissed her shoulder and slowly got out of bed. He went to the adjoining bathroom and ran the tap water till it got hot. He ran a washcloth under the water and ran the cloth over his face.

Careful not to wake Lindsay, he went into their living room and headed towards the closet. Reaching up to the top shelf, he pulled down an old photo album. He took the album over to the sofa and ran his hands over the dusty and tattered cover.

As he looked through the album, his eyes swelled up with tears. The pictures of his family brought back good and bad memories. He remembered when he and his brother Louie got the bikes that they wanted for Christmas. The family at the time was struggling and had saved every dime for those bikes. He would race Louie down the streets to see who would win.

He also remembered when his father would belittle him in front of Louie and his mother. To his father, Danny was a disappointment and his father had no problems letting him know that.

He was so engrossed in the album; he didn't see Lindsay come into the room. She sat down next to him and he dropped the album and leaned against her. She knew what he was feeling without him saying a word.


End file.
